Jane Furse Memorial Village

†Martin installed Rev Eddie Barnett as Chaplain and Director of Jane Furse Village in March 2012.

Joy and Relief for Jane Furse

†Martin writes:

I feel a little like the woman who found her lost coin (Luke 15:8-10) and I need to share my joy and relief with you.

A couple of years ago I reported at Provincial Trustees that the government employees vandalised the old Jane Furse hospital when they moved out. We managed to stop them but enormous damage had been done by then. After that we entered into negotiations about the compensation they needed to pay. All went well at first: they admitted liability, and we appointed a Quantity Surveyor jointly to assess the damage. He came up with a very conservative estimate of R1 million in damage. Their negotiators agreed that this was fair. But their seniors refused to pay despite numerous representations from us.

Our Diocesan Trustees felt that this was a matter of justice in addition to the damage that was done. We cannot allow those in power to treat their people with contempt. So we summonsed them and, finally, the court case was scheduled for earlier this week. Eventually, at the 11th hour, on Tuesday evening, they asked to settle. After trying to backtrack on the morning of the case (Wednesday) they finally agreed to sign the settlement agreement. I am very proud of our team and the attorney and advocate who represented us very well indeed.

Here is the report from our Registrar:

The High Court at Pretoria yesterday made our settlement agreement with Public Works and the Department of Health an Order of Court.

They will pay us the entire amount claimed of R1 057 171.28 plus interest at 15,5% from date of summons (January 2012) to date of payment. Costs on a party and party scale. They have 60 days in which to pay.

As you can see, they will pay the R1 million, interest and costs.

The damage they did and their refusal to compensate us initially set back our work to serve the community of Jane Furse a great deal. But we are glad that our work will now receive a boost, and pray for wisdom in developing what we know call the “Jane Furse Memorial Village”.